Melokhia-Nile Emerald

Known as koshta in India, the edible leaves are also used extensively in the Middle East, Africa and the Mediterranean, to provide a much prized viscous texture to soups and stews, similar to okra.

High in nutrition, eating 5 oz of this vegetable can provide the recommended daily allowance of iron, twenty times more than cabbage and four times as much as spinach. It also provides twice as much Vitamin A in each serving as spinach. In Egypt it is prepared with chicken and other meats. In Italy it is called Mazzocchi.